Gunnar Havreki og Óli Danski: - nøkur orð um ein syrgileik og ein sorgarleik

Abstract

In 1888 Rasmus C. Effersøe (1857-1916) was one of the organizers of the memorable Meeting at Christmas that initiated the
struggle for the preservation and development for Faroese language and culture. This article describes and discusses one of
Effersøe's collections of manuscripts, Føroya Landsbókasavn (Faroe National Library) F XIV. In this collection there are
two letters, fifteen poems or extracts of poems, and three plays. The existing manuscripts of Effersøe's first play, Gunnar Havreki, 1889, are also discussed as are some of the linguistic modifications made in subsequent publications, especially the 4th in 1934. The plot of the play refers to a tragedy which occurred at sea during the night between 24th and 25th November 1871 when a boat and its crew were lost.

In conclusion the article evaluates the literary merit of the plays written in Faroes a century ago. They are not regarded as
great works in Faroese literature, but as to the evolution of the language it is considered very important that ever since 1889 ordinary Faroese dialogue has been heard on stage.